


let me love you

by fearlesswind



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Post-Time Skip, i love these two with all of my heart, injured byleth and worried dimitri is my jam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 04:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20352556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearlesswind/pseuds/fearlesswind
Summary: “Not her, please do not take her away too” He whispers under his breath, inching closer to her space. Byleth wants to comfort him so badly but the pain is too much and she can feel everything going in and out of focus “Stay with me.”as if we were waiting, we bloom until we ache





	let me love you

She hisses, the arrow etched deep in her right shoulder refusing to budge out. Annette curses under breath and Mercedes gasps at the words uttered. If Byleth wasn’t lying down in the infirmary she would’ve reprimanded her student for it as well. 

“Annie, you mustn’t say that in front of our professor!” Mercedes exclaims, already moving across the room to get a lot more bandages to patch up her scarred torso. 

“I wouldn’t say them if this wasn’t so frigging _ difficult! _” Annette screams back, her hands moving around in motions as she continues healing Byleth’s left shoulder. Blood had stopped flowing from her injury for a while now, but with the arrow still etched on her body, it was only a matter of time before it started pouring once again. 

“Now dears you’re going to stress out your professor if you continue like this” Manuela walks into the infirmary, her face already in a frown at seeing the state she was in “Darling what happened this time?” 

“Nothing” Byleth hisses when Annette tries pushing the arrow away “A couple of Empire soldiers ambushed us just as we were making our way back to the monastery” 

“Is it a surprise that I partially believe you? I’ve told you many times darling, that lying will get you nowhere with me” The former Black Eagles professor strides into the room, plopping herself next to Annette and invoking her magic with the snap of her fingers. A cool and soft wave floods the veins inside her and Byleth relaxes instantly against the bed “What really happened?” 

“Professor got injured trying to take on the soldiers by herself” Mercedes sighs, carefully wrapping her chest in bandages, the healing effects of aloe vera on her skin already doing wonders “She got to them but...well you can see how it turned out” 

“Stubborn idiot” Manuela sighs. Gingerly she brushes her mint green locks away from Byleth’s face and she lets her“You need to be more careful” 

“I am” Byleth lies, hoping the other teacher doesn’t call her out once again “My mind was elsewhere” 

Her mind being occupied with the thought of protecting those orphaned children the moment the Empire soldiers decided to attack. 

“I swear, one day it’ll be too late to help you out” Manuela shifts her position and carefully wraps her hand around the arrow notched inside of her. That alone sends a shot of pain down her spine, a small whine already leaving her lips. The Black Eagles professor silently curses under her breath. So that’s where her students are getting such vile words “Darling I have to check if the injury hasn’t infected you any further. I’ll need to take out the arrow now” 

“It’s fine” She nods, gripping the covers underneath the bed “Just do it”

The moment those words leave her mouth, Manuela moves the arrow and Byleth has to bite down a scream. Her knuckles are white from gripping the sheets, head writhing against the pillow. 

Annette is stammering, minutes away from crying as she recites every healing spell she could muster. Mercedes simply sits on the other side of the bed, taking her left hand in hers and softly praying as Manuela continues taking out the arrow inch by inch. 

She’s been in this situation many times before, but with each movement another wave of pain crashes against her body. Byleth lets out a scream, the arrow pinching another nerve in her arm and soon she can feel the blood quickly oozing out of the wound. Manuela curses under her breath, reciting her own spells as well and just like that the arrow is out of her shoulder. 

Byleth slumps against the mattress, the pain from the wound slowly dying away as the healing magic finally takes effect. Annette continues reciting spell after spell, silent tears flowing out of her eyes and Byleth wants to apologize for scaring her like that. 

“Don’t worry about a thing professor” Mercedes gives her a soft fond smile, standing up from her position and taking in hand another roll of bandages before moving towards her shoulder. 

The moment her student’s finger graces the wound another scream is ripped out of her mouth. Mercedes widens her eyes, fingers already shaking at the reaction and that’s when Manuela starts waving her hands over her injury. She tries following her movements but it’s extremely complicated and that’s when Byleth knows that this was only getting worse. 

“I knew it, this was one of Hubert’s arrows” Manuela spits out, her expression darkening in a mix of guilt and remorse. Byleth can sympathize, if she was forced to fight against her dear students it would certainly take a toll on her. 

Hot scalding pain flows from her shoulder all the way down to her arm and she screams once more. Annette is surely scared out of her mind, her spells breaking off one after the other and her hands barely able to form a single circle. She can hear Mercedes spells as well and soon enough she can feel the soothing effects taking over. 

Byleth slumps further against the bed, the ache still scorching her skin and coming with more and more power with each second that ticks by. She bites down another scream, not wanting to scare Annette even further and her eyes slip close. 

“This is worse than I thought” The Black Eagles professor mutters before shouting “Healers! We need more healers in here! Get the monks as well!” 

It must be incredibly serious if they going for the monks as well. 

Byleth tries opening her eyes, everything swaying around in her vision. A dull pain is throbbing in her head, memories and visions flashing by behind her eyelids. 

_What? _

More screams tear out of her body, the pain travelling further ahead inside her blood. If one of the children had been struck with this arrow, they would surely be dead by now. _ Better me than them, _ she thinks before the rush of people wakes her again. 

Everything is a blur. Figures rush inside the infirmary of the monastery, some monks already reciting prayer after prayer. She can make out Mercedes and Annette still among them, their flow of energy almost natural against her body. 

The thing is, she can’t feel the healing effects at all, the pain spreading and spreading. 

She screams again, writhing against the bed as Manuela orders the rest of the healers to recite their prayers even louder. Byleth tries reciting her own set of healing spells in her mind, anything to get over the immense pain. Hubert probably dosed the arrows on some sort of poison or acid. Though it was unusual for the effect to last this long. 

_Demonic Beast have some fascinating properties, wouldn’t you agree Professor? _

Fuck. 

“H-He used-d-Ah!” Byleth stutters her words, trying to warn anyone about her discovery “D-Demonic Beast-s blood!” 

“Of course he fucking would” Manuela seethes, her face filled with rage and regret “Everyone keep going! We have to be in perfect synchrony for it to work!” 

Byleth pants against the bed, shivers racking down her body up and down over and over again. Her right arm is scorching with pain, fingers shaking against the mattress. She glances down and the urge to vomit almost wins over. Purple and red blotches litter her arm all the way from her fingers to the shoulder. 

She screams again the wave of pain unbearable at this point and then she hears the door of the infirmary burst open. 

“Your Highness!” 

More sounds and a commotion cloud over her hearing. She can barely make out one voice over the other, shouts and arguments flying over her head from one side of the room to the other. She feels tears slipping past her eyes as the fire continues to spread over her whole body. 

“Please your Highness I have to ask you to leave!” 

“I’m not doing such thing Professor Manuela!”

“You might get infected as well!”

“I’m not leaving her!” 

Byleth frowns against the pillow, searching for that voice against all the other ones. Her heart tumbles against her chest, left hand urging to get closer and closer to that familiar presence. She feels the contact immediately, a pair of hands clasping her own in an instant. There’s a gentle brush of lips over her fingers. 

Slowly she tries prying her eyes open, the light and spells blinding her for a moment. Groaning she furrows on the covers, shivering from head to toe, but her arm so very hot against her skin. Byleth can feel the sweat and tears mixing with each other, small sobs leaving her mouth one after the other. 

“Please, professor” A sweet voice says against her ears “Please you can fight it. I know you can, please” 

_Dimitri_

Her eyes open just like that, fighting against the blinding fluorescent lights and finding the man in question, kneeling right next to her. She can feel the fire flaring up just like before, the pain unbearable against her skin but she can’t tear her eyes away from the Prince of Faerghus. 

His blond locks cascade down his face, skin littered with scars and deep bruises but an immense worry brewing behind his mesmerizing blue eye. His hands carefully wrapped her own in a delicate manner, a swarm of butterflies threatening to erupt deep inside her chest. She gives him a small squeeze and soon enough he returns it with a wobbly smile. 

“Everything will be fine Byleth” Dimitri whispers to her, dropping another kiss to her fingers. Even from here she can faintly see the small tears trying to roll down his cheeks. Byleth tries coming closer to him, but a false move already has her shouting against the covers. 

“Everyone keep going!” Manuela commands over the prayers “Don’t falter in your spells!” 

“Not her, please do not take her away too” He whispers under his breath, inching closer to her space. Byleth wants to comfort him so badly but the pain is too much and she can feel everything going in and out of focus “Stay with me.” 

Byleth feels droplets meeting against her fingers. Dimitri’s tears are finally flowing and she can’t help her own from flowing down. _ Not again _ , she pleads to anyone listening, _ please I don’t want to leave him again. _

“Please don’t take her away again”

Her breaths are coming up short, collapsing against her lungs and she can’t breathe. Coughs rack around her body, the need to get oxygen too great for her body to lay still. Annette loudly curses, placing a cool hand over her forehead and suddenly her eyes slip shut. 

Everything dulls and faintly she hears shouts and yells coming one after the other, her body going lax against the mattress. It’s like going underwater, the voices faintly fading as her consciousness slips away with each second. She can still feel Dimitri’s hands against her own, the touch grounding her before falling away. 

“Please do not leave me too” 

_I won’t, I promise you I won’t. _

* * *

Soft crickets sing across the room, a small buzzing going around with them. Byleth frowns, furrowing deeper into the mattress and pulling the covers closer to her body, seeking any source of warmth and heat. There’s this dull feeling over her right arm, a tingling sensation spreading through her fingers and to the end of the shoulder.

Blinking her eyes open she looks down at the injury to find her arm free of any extravagant colors. A few bruises and scratches litter her skin, but nothing out of the ordinary. Sighing she slumps against the pillow, a cool night’s breeze meeting her body. She shudders and wraps herself tighter against the covers. 

Instead of the usual silk covers, she’s greeted by a dark mane of fur against her skin. Byleth blinks and immediately recognizes the familiar black and white coat, eyes widening at the memories of a few hours prior. 

She must’ve passed out during the healing process. 

With a bit of difficulty she manages to sit up in the bed, her right arm still unmoving next to her. The infirmary is completely alone, not a single person in sight. Dimitri’s cloak pools around her waist and she fights the urge to go and look for him. She had entered the infirmary somewhere around noon and for it to be already nightfall...

Goddesses how long did it take for them to take the poison out? 

_It’s probably a miracle I’m still alive _, she thinks.

Byleth hears the sound of footsteps against the wood tiles and she looks up at the entrance of the infirmary. _ What happened to the door? _ And her question goes unanswered as Dimitri enters the room. 

His figure glints against the moonlight, pale skin ethereal against the light as he steps further inside the room. His blond hair, now fully clean and free of dried blood, sways along with his body like soft silk and she badly wants to run her fingers around it. 

A second passes by and then his gaze reaches her. When it does, she registers the immediate relief that washes over his gorgeous eye. 

“Professor!” 

Dimitri is next to her in three strides, kneeling right next to her bed. His hands slowly move to cup her face but he abruptly stops before doing so. Byleth instead takes hold of them against her own, lacing their fingers together despite her erratic heart beat. 

“Thank the heavens you’re all right!” The prince exclaims, pure happiness etched on his expression. She can’t help the small smile gracing her lips. 

“Hello Dimitri” Byleth feels her cheeks warming at the touch, wanting nothing more than to bask in their shared contact. She sighs, exhaustion still clinging to her body. Gods she feels extremely heavy and drained “What happened?” 

In a moment the prince’s expression shifts and his happy demeanor vanishes, bringing forward a sense of worry and concern. 

“Professor Manuela was right, the arrow you were injured with was in fact poisoned with Demonic Beast’s blood” Dimitri growls in frustration, giving her hands a small squeeze. Byleth wishes she could ease that horrible frown taking over his face “The poison was reacting badly to your crest and the healers prayers. Honestly if it weren’t for Annette and her Black Magic you probably would’ve...” 

The man averts his eyes, a tense silence following after his words. She bites down on her lip, scenarios and images already on her head of what could’ve happened. But at the same time she can’t help but be glad that she was the one struck with such a weapon. If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. 

“Why did you have to act so rashly?” The Prince of Faerghus asks his eyes pleading “Why did you have to take that battalion of soldiers all by yourself, are you mad?!”

She certainly doesn’t appreciate the tone he is using on her, but alas she already caused enough trouble for everyone with that injury of hers. 

“I was the closest one to their troops” She reasons but Dimitri is already shaking his head, scoffing at the response. Anger bristles under her skin, a frown already taking place “They were going to attack the children. If I hadn’t intervened they easily would’ve been shot.”

“But why would you expose yourself to such danger by yourself?!” The man retorts back, tightly gripping her hands over his own “Why didn’t you call anyone else for help?! Why didn’t you call for me?!” 

Byleth bristles in silence, averting her gaze away from Dimitri and biting down on her lip. 

“No don’t do that” The prince gently scolds her, anger still laced in his words. Carefully he takes hold of her chin and moves her head to look back at him. Their gazes meet and just as quickly Dimitri cups her face against his palm. He sighs, frown still in place “You don’t understand Professor. The entire healing process lasted around 14 hours in total. Your entire arm was covered in a dark ooze and nothing was working” 

Her anger dims after that, the worry in Dimitri’s voice too much for her to bear. She softens against his hand, his fingers slowly drawing small circles against her cheek. 

“Not a single spell was working against the poison. We thought it was already too late” His voice briefly breaks at the last syllables, the hold over her hands tightening. The last thing she wanted was to make him worry like this “You gave us a horrible scare. I-We thought the worse”

Byleth can only melt against him, relishing in the warmth and heat from his hand over her cheek. 

“Please, just promise me you won’t act so rashly in the future” Dimitri pleads “Promise me you won’t Byleth” 

Her name against his lips sends chills down her spine, bringing a beautiful sense of comfort in her mind. She wants nothing more than to pull the prince down and finally connect their lips together. It’s getting harder and harder to mask her feelings with each day that passes by. 

“I can’t promise you that” She whispers. It’s useless to promise something that she most likely won’t keep in the future. If any of her students-_ friends _, allies or anyone finds themselves in danger, she won’t hesitate to run into danger head on. The prince lets out a frustrated growl as a response “Dimitri you have to understand, we’re at war. If a situation like this comes in the future I can’t just do nothing”

“Then I’ll have you stay by my side until the war ends”

“W-What?” She exclaims, pulling away from his hold “You can’t do that” 

“Of course I can” Dimitri looks dead serious “If you won’t promise me this, then I’ll subject myself to your safety” 

“You sound like Dedue saying such things” She’s still annoyed but a small laugh escapes her lips at the small blush overtaking the prince’s cheeks. 

“I’ll imitate anyone if it means you won’t go through such an injury again” Dimitri pressed on and she knows that he’ll keep pushing the topic until she gives in. Byleth sighs, giving his hand a slight squeeze. 

War was a difficult time for making promises. That much she knew, but at the same time Byleth couldn’t help wanting to ease away his worries. 

“I can’t promise you what you want” She starts, slowly clasping his hand resting over her cheek with her own. He blushes even harder at the action, but makes no move to pull away “But I can promise you I’ll waste all of my other options and resources before rushing headfirst into a battle” 

Dimitri chuckles, the tension stringing him up already vanishing away from his body. It doesn’t feel like she’s completely won him over with that promise, but it could be a start for both of them. 

“That alone is enough to calm down my worries” He breathes in relief. She lightly chuckles, feeling his fingers softly threading her hair and the anger easing away from his body “I won’t push this topic further, because you need to continue resting, but don’t think I’m through with that promise.”

Byleth laughs, her eyes slipping shut for a brief moment. Dimitri is intently looking back at her, fondness and gentle smile gracing his lips. It’s been too long since she last saw him this content and at peace. 

“I’m sorry I worried you” She apologizes “It wasn’t my intention to cause you or anyone such pain” 

“It wasn’t your fault” The prince decides, giving her other hand a small squeeze “You need to rest, you’re falling asleep as we talk” 

She doesn’t complain in the least as the man carefully helps her lie down onto the bed once more. Byleth breathes in delight, snuggling against the comfy pillow and already feeling her consciousness slipping away. Dimitri’s chuckle reaches her ears but she doesn’t even stir from it, exhaustion clinging with every second that ticks by.

A soft and warm fur is draped over her body and she forces herself to peek for just a moment. The Prince of Faerghus carefully settles his enormous coat over her body, worry still etched on his face as he gives her one last look. Before he even thinks about moving away, Byleth stretches out and once again finds the man’s right hand against her own. 

“Professor?” Dimitri turns to look at her, immediately going to her side. She can feel her face heat in a matter of seconds. So much for trying to hide away her feelings in the middle of a war. 

“Can you stay a bit longer?” She asks beneath the covers, probably failing at hiding away her reddening face “Just until I fall asleep, please?” 

She doesn’t have to say anything else as Dimitri wordlessly sits on the floor, right next to her bed, their hands still linked together. 

“Anything for you” He speaks with such a gentle tone that it sends butterflies into her stomach once more. Byleth turns in the bed, lying on her left side as she continues to look at the prince. He gifts her another small smile and just like that her eyes slip shut. 

It was quite a sight to see the next morning when both Annette and Mercedes found the Prince of Faerghus asleep on the floor and hands still linked with the sleeping professor.

**Author's Note:**

> i started playing this games a few weeks ago and obviously i picked the blue lions route as my first playthrough and omfg i didn't think i would love dimitri this much (i was a fool). so here we are, me writing a fic about these two and uuuugh my heart can't take it! i still haven't finished the route yet, so no spoilers please! but i promise i'll wip out a couple more one shots of these two!
> 
> here's my [tumblr](https://castlebrenda.tumblr.com) if you want to hear me ramble more about anything and other stuff. hope you have a great day!
> 
> ps. this title of this fic was also inspired by this [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejR5zKaPZ0g) if you want to check it out!


End file.
